Friday, September 17, 2010

“Halfling Week” Continues – The B/X Juggernaut!

Would you sacrifice 9 (average) to 18 (maximum) hit points over the entire length of your fighter’s career in exchange for a +2 bonus to all saving throws across the board EXCEPT Dragon Breath? Absolutely. How about for a +1 bonus instead of +2? Yeah, probably.

How about sacrificing the hit points AND limiting the number of weapons to which you have access AND taking a 5-10% hit on earned experience? Hmm…it might still be worth it, though less so if using the optional Variant Weapon Damage rule from the Basic book. If all weapons do D6 (the standard rule) all you lose is access to a few magic weapons.

Halfling juggernauts are aberrations…halfling warriors who train day in and day out for battle, pushing themselves to feats of courage and strength that belie their small stature. Though no taller than other halflings, juggernauts often possess 20-30 pounds of extra muscle, and might even be mistaken for small dwarves save they have no beards. Halfling juggernauts generally live outside and apart from normal halfling society, often seeking glory and renown in human lands. However, in times of war, halfling juggernauts often lead their own people in battle, acting as elite force commanders.

The Prime Requisite of a halfling juggernaut is Strength; a juggernaut with a Strength of 13-15 gains an additional +5% on earned experience points, and one with a 16+ Strength gains a +10% bonus. A character must have a minimum Constitution of 9 to be a halfling juggernaut.

RESTRICTIONS: Juggernauts use six-sided dice (d6) to determine their hit points. They may wear any armor and use shield or weapon, provided it has been cut down to their size (in other words, they face the same restrictions as other halfling characters). Halfling juggernauts may achieve a maximum of 30th level of experience. They use the same attack and saving throw tables as fighters (however, see Special Abilities below). They may use any magic item useable by a fighter or halfling.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Due to the nature of their training and their temperament and love of battle, juggernauts do NOT receive the same special abilities as the halfling class. They have no interest in hiding from their foes, prefer melee to missile combat, and find it dishonorable to use their size to advantage when fighting monsters larger than man-sized. Although juggernauts lose some of the halfling’s natural caution, they are still hardy individuals and receive a +1 bonus to all saving throws except versus dragon breath.

Halfling juggernauts that reach a high level of experience gain the same ability to make multiple melee attacks as a fighter. They may make a total of two attacks at 15th level, three at 23rd, and four attacks at 30th level.A halfling juggernaut may build a stronghold at any time, provided they can afford it. A juggernaut that has achieved Name (9th) level and built such a structure will attract a cadre of 5-50 (1D10x5) 1st level Stout-Hearts to garrison the fortress, working in exchange for training; juggernauts will otherwise find it difficult to recruit halflings of suitably martial temperament. In general, halfling juggernauts do not establish domains, instead freely offering their services in defense of nearby Halfling communities.

@ ck:I'll have to go back and read up on your feral dwarf class...I don't remember what I thought of it before...

@ Scott:Nah, I wanted to show a B/X variation of the "fighter" class. Even though it's a "halfling," it has very few mechanical differences from an actual fighter.

People complain that demihumans aren't as cool as the human adventurers in B/X. Well, what's to stop me from saying my fighter (rolled normally) isn't a halfling? Mechanically, I just need to make sure that I don't take any weapons longer than a short sword, and then I need to come up with an (in-game) reason why he doesn't receive the missile bonuses or concealment skills or AC bonus of the "normal" halfling class. The juggernaut is one possible answer.

While this class is written up with slight mechanical differences (a save bonus, D6 hit dice, and an XP hit), I could just have easily written it up AS A STANDARD FIGHTER, changed the names on the level titles and voila! Instant Halfling Badass.